Drunken RIM execs force emergency airplane landing

Research in Motion (RIM), known for their contributions to Blackberry smartphones have been in nothing short of a world of trouble lately. In the most recent turn of events, two executives forced a plane to land with drunken, disorderly conduct.

Research in Motion (RIM) has added yet another debacle to their negative public reputation repertoire. On Monday, two of the Blackberry company's staffers have been reprimanded, suspended and fined for what must have been quite the spectacle: overly obnoxious alcoholic beverage-induced behavior that literally forced a Beijing-bound Air Canada flight to land in Vancouver.

The ruckus-causing duo - George Campbell, 45, and Paul Alexander Wilson, 38 - were allegedly so belligerent that the flight crew had to restrain them by handcuffing the men to their seats according to The Record.

“One could argue that if it’s two employees of any other company, or most other companies, it doesn’t make the headline," said John Creane, national managing partner at National Public Relations.

The rest of the passengers aboard Air Canada Flight 31 were given $100 credit vouchers as a "goodwill gesture" as well as a hotel room and covered meal expenses from the 18-hour delay they were forced to endure.

In addition to being suspended by RIM, Campbell and Wilson also pleaded guilty to mischief Wednesday in Richmond Provincial Court says The Globe and Mail. They were ordered to pay Air Canada $35,878 each ($71,757 for the both of them), and are barred from making any contact with Air Canada crews or flying with them during the duration of their probation.

“Based on the limited information available at this time, RIM has suspended the individuals involved pending further investigation,” said New York-based RIM spokeswoman, Marisa Conway in a statement.

The bad news spills over into the RIM company in general as well as they said they no longer expect to see their full-year earnings forecast come to fruition. The lackluster profit margin is "due to weak sales, the write down on inventories of its underwhelming PlayBook tablet, and a charge related to a damaging service outage in October."

Campbell and Wilson's positions are not known to the public and the Waterloo, Ontario-based RIM did not go into any more detail other than the aforementioned statement by Ms. Conway.